While yes, this picture is...wait for it...nearly 17 years old, I'm reposting it not so much as it's a cute picture of my daughter but the store that's in the background next to Jo-Ann Fabric (in bankruptcy I believe), Big Lots, which has closed/is closing over 350 stores, including the one pictured, as it works it way through bankruptcy. Welcome to the new retail world of 2024.
Today's post, while writing related, won't be that heavily skewered towards the nuts and bolts of my current project {e.g. page/chapter/word count}, but like looking for an opinion on a particular part of a book that people have lots of opinions about.
Epilogues.
As loosely defined, an epilogue is a coda/summation that brings to a satisfactory conclusion to what you've just read/heard/seen. It's quite prevalent in books, of all genres, when you want to shine a light on what might've possibly happened to your characters after your story has wrapped up.
In my particular instance, because I have invested so much time/energy on the lives of all my main characters, giving them nuanced motives in pursuing/completing/not completing a particular task, that I sincerely do not think that trying to WRAP UP ALL OF THOSE PLOT POINTS in one final penultimate chapter will be fair to the readers (or myself for that matter) who invested so much time with those characters.
Just to give you a basic idea of what I'm looking at that must have A RESOLUTION of some type, and this doesn't include the actual ending, which I'm still trying to resolve to my satisfaction.
- A sentient being that was "killed" off in book #3, is deciding whether or not to reincarnate and become a sentient to another, or stay with her current host, who is serving penance for causing her to die to begin with.
- Two cousins who are trying to successfully complete their last assignment, which will allow them to regain control of their lives AND find a new home/host in which to restart their lives with.
- A swerve in which one protag/antag must decide on which person who should take delivery of her hostage, with each person having their own different outcomes.
- A secondary swerve involving the protag/antag mentioned above, which culminates in the gentle reassignment of the remaining four members of her family conclave.
- I have two immortals, one who is now host to a sentient being, who are in charge of making sure that the hostage is being delivered on time.
- The two sisters who ultimately betrayed their Queen for the Queen who wants the man in question.
Those are the main points that indirectly involve the actual ending as it applies to the pursuing/pursued side of this conflict. The following points that directly involve the actual ending as it applies to the receiving side.
- I have a lady-in-waiting who has recently become a host to a person who was reincarnated into a sentient being and is recovering from a brutal multi-faceted assault from the next bullet point.
- The renegade from the conclave that is the actual power behind the throne who is looking to perform his own usurpation.
- The Queen who was the catalyst for this entire story. Does she win in the end? Does she lose in the end? Does she break even in the end?
- The Queen who was the pursuer for the entire story. Does she win in the end? Does she lose in the end? Does she break even? In regards to a couple points mentioned above, does she win or lose?
- The Milady, who was the hostage in question's first wife, what does she win in the end? How does her life continue afterwards?
Since all of these points have to be concluded to everyone's satisfaction, and there are many intertwined points at stake here, I guess the question now pivots to this: should I have two separate epilogues involved for both sides?
Funnily enough, writing this blog post has allowed me to look at my entire series with a fresh set of eyes, and in order to do all of the intertwined/interconnected plot points, both large and small, I really do need to write two distinct epilogues in order to properly close out this series.
But after reaching this very realistic possibility for this series, I've also come to the very realistic possibility of writing novellas/novelette as follow-ups to these particular characters. Note: these characters have been my entire world for the past 2 1/4 years, so I can truthfully say that I've grown quite attached to them.
Not sure if I've ever experienced something like this before, in that while trying to make a case for something, I ultimately convinced myself to make a major swerve into something else. But, while writing this blog post, I also came up with another idea for this series, which I will presently keep to myself until I can talk to others about it.
In any event, please enlighten me with your thoughts about epilogues in general or a proposed dual epilogue ending. Have a fantastic week everybody!
